I remember my first time meeting Mr. Tower. He walked into my government class freshman year, interrupting Mr. Adams, to plug his group, Junior Statesmen of America. He described it as a debate club that was run by students focused on current events. In mid-sentence, he turned to me and asked, “Are you Patrick’s brother?” As the class pivoted to look at me, I mustered up a “Sure…”

After some convincing from Mr. Tower and my brother, I joined JSA. It is a club that debated a current event topic using pseudo-courtroom procedure. Walking in, I was overwhelmed by the amount of enthusiasm every student in the club had. They all yearned to speak their beliefs, knowing they could make a change in the world for the better. That wasn’t all they had in common, though: Mr. Tower saw this excitement in them and recruited them for JSA, knowing they would thrive.

But why had he selected me? I was somebody who was too afraid to speak my beliefs due to my nervousness. Was it that my brother was one of the leading members? Or was it that I had excelled in social studies? Or could it even be that he’d seen something in myself I had not noticed? Regardless, I continued to go to the bi-weekly meetings to observe the others speak.

In my sophomore year, Mr. Tower was my teacher for second semester Western Civilization. It was the first social studies class I took that challenged me to succeed. With the weekly quizzes, difficult tests, and daily notes, he pushed every student to become the best they could be, without overwhelming them. The pinnacle of his push was when he gave out the assignment for our end of the year essays.

We had to choose a topic that appealed to us. We had to buy a book on the topic, and write a thesis about it. Although people groaned about it’s length and difficulty, it was an assignment to prepare us and for us to reflect upon what interested us. He knew the students needed preparation for college level essays, yet, he allowed us to choose the topic that appealed to us so it would be well written. After brainstorming, I chose to write about the radicalism prevalent during the American Revolution. I wrote my thesis and received an A+, only because he was able to inspire me to do the best I could.

Whether Mr. Tower was my teacher or my leader in JSA, he was able to encourage the best out of myself and everyone else. He motivated everyone to the best they could be and forced us to advance ourselves and the world around us. Although all of my teachers have been fantastic, none have made me yearn to be the best I could besides Mr. Tower.